KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — The ringgit closed firmer against the United States dollar today, supported by improved market sentiment following Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) decision to maintain the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 2.75 per cent.
At 6pm, the local currency rose to 4.0370/0415 against the greenback from 4.0445/0495 at yesterday’s close.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid noted that “the positive assessment by BNM on the state of the economy after announcing its decision to keep the OPR steady at 2.75 per cent also contributed positively to the ringgit’s strength”.
“It appears the ringgit could break the 4.00 level (against the greenback) at some point soon should the positive sentiment continue,” Uzir told Bernama.
The local note ended mostly higher versus other major currencies.
It appreciated versus the Japanese yen to 2.5440/5469 from 2.5598/5631 yesterday, gained versus the euro to 4.7205/7257 from 4.7337/7395, but it inched down vis-à-vis the British pound to 5.4273/4334 from 5.4237/4304 yesterday.
The ringgit traded was mixed against ASEAN currencies.
It rose against the Singapore dollar to 3.1441/1478 from 3.1502/1543 yesterday and strengthened versus the Thai baht to 12.8587/8792 from 13.0086/0301.
The local note was unchanged against the Philippine peso at 6.82/6.83, but eased slightly vis-à-vis the Indonesian rupiah to 238.9/239.3 from 238.7/239.3.
